Evan gives props to the famous New York portraitist, Chuck Close, for being a virtuoso of photo techniques (everything from daguerrotypes to large-format Polaroids). But in a show of 90 prints, all very well executed, some of the works — and especially the celebrity photographs — fail to ignite empathy or excitement, he says. NOTE: This post was written prior to the sexual harassment charges against Close were made public. The article is about the artist’s photographs and does not deal with his behavior towards women.

The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology hosts a powerful exhibition that juxtaposes work of contemporary Syrian artist Issam Hourbaj with antiquities from the regions of Iraq and Syria. The result is a meditation on loss and destruction that emphasizes the human face of the complex past and present of this region.

Did you make it to this year’s Art Book Fair? Now in its third year, this Philadelphia tradition features artists, writers, and editors from around the world. Meet some of them and check out the wares in this brief video.

The current show at Haverford’s Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery brings together a diverse group of activist artists who critique consumer culture, colonialism, and the exploitation of the planet. Their goal, Evan says, is to get us out of the gallery and into the world to make meaningful change.

LA is full of oddities, inevitable in a sprawl so expansive and diverse–Halpern’s eye has the ability to make the native seem alien and vice-versa. An image of a smoldering brush fire on a rocky slope, for example, seems pedestrian. Elsewhere, a woman outfitted stylishly in white fur, with jarring, raccoon-eyed makeup seems dropped to earth from space. But, captured in Halpern’s close-up style, she is as believable as the next person on the street.

Jack Whitten’s paintings have challenged the potential of material and space for decades. His exhibition at Hauser & Wirth in New York City picks from recent work and his vast catalogue of mind-bending work. With titles like “The Third Entity,” “The Fifth Portal,” and “Quantum Wall,” who can go wrong?

For those who don’t know the photographs but who love the paintings of the era, the exhibition will be a revelation. The call and response between these photos and the paintings nearby is almost audible.

Many submitted, but only 12 were selected as finalists for the Artblog/St. Claire 2016 New Art Writing Challenge! Keep your eye out for all of the winning articles–we’ll be publishing one a day starting soon. From the Colored Girls Museum to the Mormon Tabernacle, you’ll find something to love from these great Philly-centric pieces of writing.

All five artists’ work collectively covers (porously) the surface of the gallery itself. In fact the physical space itself becomes a porous “skin” to uphold the show. The success here is that Porous Coverage is porous itself, i.e., hardly a conclusive statement at all. Rather, with ample opportunity for flexibility and expansion, we are reminded to examine the intrinsic fragility of the nature of “wholeness” in the realm of our constructed objects, spaces, and selves.

We’re bringing back a regular round-up of our upcoming posts for you to look forward to! If you’ve got an upcoming exhibition, performance, or event you think would be a good fit for Artblog coverage, feel free to pitch us a story at hello@theartblog.org.

Rosa Leff’s papercuts push the boundaries of the two-dimensional world. Inspired by children’s books and political cartoons, her illustrations are painstakingly crafted shape-shifters that trick the eye, at times evoking a relief print with fine line work and deep contrast. It’s upon close inspection that the separation of the cut image from it’s backing creates a landscape of shadows that makes the work reside in neither the two nor three-dimensional realm.

The film has been widely described as a Nigerien remake of Prince’s iconic 1984 film, “Purple Rain,” shot in Tuareg and French with English subtitles. The music is intoxicatingly groovy. The visuals are dreamy and striking. And my feelings after seeing the film are absolutely electric–like the guitars.

For the museum, this exhibit of Indian contemporary photography is a great complement to the PMA’s commitment to Indian art. For Philadelphians, the show is a great introduction to work that has not been widely exhibited here before.